Last week there was what seemed to be a bit of disturbing news from Collider regarding extensive re-shoots happening up in Vancouver for 20th Century Fox's summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Long story short, people have strong suspicions in Fox micro-managing the film behind director Gavin Hood's back, and even involvement from Richard Donner attempting to fix some sort of debacle that this tentpole film had fallen into.

Well, lo and behold, the waters parted and there was word from up on high. And this information came from a bit of an unlikely source...Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. This was such an important matter to clear up that Jackman took time out of these extensive re-shoots and I'm sure his continuing busy schedule regarding his hosting the Oscars to put the collective fan boy mind at ease.

Ain't It Cool News (AICN) received an e-mail straight from Jackman, and a bit of a bonus was also included with the e-mail. Here's what Wolverine had to say:

Hey Mate- Would you mind posting this? Thank you for your support! HJ

Hey everyone -

It's Hugh Jackman, sending this note from freezing Vancouver. I have read a lot of your online comments regarding the footage that we are currently shooting and I share your passion for the Wolverine character and the movie - I owe it all to you guys!

I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations. I am stoked by the positive response to the teaser, which clearly reflects the tone and scope of the film. If you like that, we've got much more in store!

In the meantime, here's an exclusive shot of some characters you may recognize...

Cheers,

Hugh

Well this seems reassuring enough, but it seems very hokey to me that Hugh Jackman felt the personal need to include this extra exclusive cast picture with the e-mail. This is worrying to me because I wasn't entirely blown away back when we premiered the first trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it seems like the studio is using Jackman's apparent trusted nature amongst the web to take care of damage control. I had the same uneasy feeling when meeting Eddie Izzard over the summer and asking him about Valkyrie. Without prompt Izzard proceeded to tell me and his Q&A audience that the jostling around of the film's release date had nothing to do with worry about the quality of the picture but simply a decision to get the movie out of October (apparently a month known for historical dramas) to a better date more accommodating for the thrilling, suspenseful picture that it really was. I love Eddie Izzard, but that just screamed out damage control to me.

Wolverine looks cool enough but maybe too action-packed to the extreme. These re-shoots are worrying and despite Hugh Jackman's reassurance, I'll hold my real judgment until the film is released this May.

Labels: 20th Century Fox, Fox, Gavin Hood, Hugh Jackman, Richard Donner, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine